A Mother's Wrath
by Tycho
Summary: An AU of the Glory Saga. The Monks create someone closer than a sister. Starts in Season 4. Edited & with new chap 19 April!
1. Prologue: The Order Falls

Title: A Mother's Wrath

Author: Tycho

Contact: tychocelchu@optusnet.com.au

Series: BtVS

Chapter: Prologue - The Order Falls

Rating: PG-13

Code: B/S

Summary: An AU of the Glory Saga. The Monks create someone closer than a sister.

Timeframe: "Something Blue"

Archive: You betcha. Just tell me about it.

Disclaimer: Whedon owns all.

* * * *

Glorificus strode through carnage. Ordinarily slaughter was something she enjoyed, regardless of who the slaughterer was. But not this night. Viciously she twisted her heel on the throat of a dying man, a knight of the Byzantium Order. He died with a choked gurgle, the last of his kind; but Glory did not take any pleasure in his death.

For the Vessel was empty, and the Key was gone. _Her Key Was GONE!_ For 25 years she had tracked it across the world, the monks one step ahead of her, the knights one step behind. For 25 years she had been able to sense the Key's presence in the world. It had always been there since she was exiled to this hole of a world. Always she would know its general location - that way or this, near or far. They were irrevocably bound, one to the other.

But now it was gone. Now Glorificus, Hellgod and Fashion Queen, could feel nothing. And not one of those stupid monks had remained alive to tell her where it was.

Or did one?

Labored breathing and an unsteady heartbeat told Glory that there was one left. She pulled him from behind the altar by the front of the robes that denoted him as abbot of the order, and held him high.

"Where is my KEY!" the Hellgod's voice echoed among the vaulted ceilings of the abbey.

Blood flecked his split lips as he gave a faint smile of triumph. "The knights ....succeeded. It...is gone. Forever. And now.....I die." The abbot clacked his teeth together and began to convulse as the poison in the false tooth did its work.

------------

In a small cupola in the roof, crouched in terror and praying that his heart wasn't truly beating as loud as it seemed to be, a young novice - about 25 - watched as a Hellgod threw a tantrum. One hand brushed through jet-black hair soaked with sweat. The other clutched a passport and an airline ticket. Destination: Sunnydale, California.


	2. Conception

Title: A Mother's Wrath

Author: Tycho

Contact: tychocelchu@optusnet.com.au

Series: BtVS

Chapter: One - Conception

Rating: PG-13

Code: -B/S

Summary: An AU of the Glory Saga. The Monks create someone closer than a sister.

Timeframe: "Something Blue"

Archive: You betcha. Just lemme know!

Disclaimer: Whedon owns all.

* * * *

Buffy smiled contentedly as she stroked Spike's hair, admiring the way her fiancé's platinum blonde hair shone in the sunlight. *Part of me still can't believe he asked me to marry him! Or that he's human. And a Slayer to boot. We're _so _perfect for each other. I don't care how Wills did this, I've never been this happy. Pause I wonder if he can still...* Her hand caressed his hard stomach, and then lower, to test her theory.

"Ready for more, luv?" Spike's voice seemed to **thrum** at the very core of her being.

"Say that again? Please?"

He grinned broadly at her, his blue eyes sparkling with humor. And love. "Say what, luv?"

Buffy leaned over and kissed him. "That."

Then the world turned upside down.

----------------

Giles blinked as his sight returned to him. At last! Sight! If it wasn't anti-British he would have done Willow's snoopy dance for the sheer joy of being able to see. And read! The urge to pick up a book, a magazine, a comic! was almost irresistible. Until he noticed a couple of things were missing from the scene that was his living room. Or rather, a couple of someones.

Not Willow. The witch was seated on the edge of the couch looking slightly guilty about the havoc her spell had caused. Xander was sprawled over the rest of said couch, happily munching on something now that his status as demon magnet had been revoked.

"Where are Buffy and Spike?"

Willow's eyes went wide with realization, and she beat a hasty retreat to the relative safety of the kitchen as Xander answered Giles' query. "Buffy went to check on her Mom in case Wills had magicked her as well, and the fangless wonder skipped out a bit after. Said you were fresh out of blood." A heartbeat later the sound of flesh striking flesh resounded through the room as Xander smacked his forehead, realizing that he had used similar excuses while secretly seeing Cordelia. "And my picture can be found in the dictionary. Under gullible."

Giles began to stroke his temples, attempting to ward off the headache he knew he would soon have, and murmured, "Oh dear."

Sure enough, within ten minutes a shirtless vampire ran in, smoke billowing from under the duster he held over his head. "Help! She's gonna kill me!"

Giles sighed. "Based on the state of your clothing, is there a reason why we shouldn't let her?"

Buffy answered him from the doorway, "Well, gee. I can't think of a single one." The Slayer's clothing appeared to be intact, although she was just as disheveled as the vampire who was now cowering behind her Watcher. He poked his head out from behind his human shield. "You need me."

"Like hell I do."

Spike smirked. "That's not what you said twenty minutes ago."

If looks could kill, Spike would have incinerated on the spot. Buffy stomped towards them, her face turning a bright shade of red. "Get out of the way Giles." Her teeth were gritted together so tightly, Giles wondered if they would ever separate.

"Buffy, you're upset...."

"UPSET?!!! He.... took advantage of me! He .....impugned my honor!" Giles resisted the urge to sigh. His Slayer had been reading torrid romances again. Then he winced at the inevitable comment from the undead terror cowering behind him.

"Your honor? Not to mention your mouth, your neck, your..."

Somehow Buffy's face went even redder, and she surged against her Watcher in a vain attempt to reach the vampire who was currently fleeing the room. Giles turned the slack jawed youth on the couch. "Xander, could you grab the rope, please?"

Buffy's eye's lit up. The notion of torturing Spike to dust somehow appealed to her ideal of revenge.

"I think we're going to have to restrain her." The Slayer's scream of outrage echoed throughout Sunnydale.

"Get the gag as well."


	3. Hush-a-Bye

Title: A Mother's Wrath

Author: Tycho

Contact: tychocelchu@optusnet.com.au

Series: BtVS

Chapter: Two - Hush-a-bye

Rating: PG-13

Code: - B/S

Summary: An AU of the Glory Saga. The Monks create someone closer than a sister.

Timeframe: Takes place during "Hush"

Archive: You betcha. Just lemme know.

Disclaimer: Whedon owns all.

* * * *

Buffy awoke slowly, the same way she had awoken every morning that week. She tried to focus her mind on something else, but the world was silent. Quickly reality intruded, and she jumped out of bed, pausing only long enough to grab her robe, and rushed down the hall to the dorm's bathroom. There she relieved her stomach of last night's dinner.

It didn't cross her mind that she couldn't hear herself retching.

Buffy went back to her room. Inside Willow was stretching her arms and greeting the morning with an enthusiasm that her roommate definitely did not feel. The redhead waved at her and said "Hi." Or tried to. But she couldn't speak.

Neither could Buffy. Nor could anyone in Sunnydale, living or dead.

-------------

Walking through Sunnydale, the two girls were disturbed by what they saw. *I guess Yeats was right. The center cannot hold. Is this what the end of the world will look like? This has something to do with my dream yesterday, I know it.*

While Willow bought two whiteboards from a silent hawker, Buffy went into one of the few open stores in the street - a chemist. When she came out, there was a brown paper package in the bag she carried on her back.

The package stayed there while they met the others at Giles' apartment. It went into a drawer when they returned to the dorm room. Willow found it there while Buffy was receiving a kiss from Riley Finn, but left it as it was. She did borrow a shirt though.

It wasn't until the rush to the toilet the next morning that Buffy remembered, and made use of the contents.

-------------

Willow started as she heard a knock on the door. Without speech to fill in the blank spaces, noises of all sorts were suddenly more noticeable. She finished pulling her top on, and opened the door. Outside was a girl from a room down the hall. *Nadia. That's her name, from History, with the spunky new teacher. * Nadia waved in greeting, but not in cheer. She handed Willow a piece of paper and left.

Ur Roomie. Bathroom. Crying.

Willow blinked in surprise. Rarely had she ever seen Buffy cry. Laughter, anger, concern and confusion were all common, but laughter? Willow could count the teary times on one hand. And most of them had to do with Angel. She grabbed the tissue box with one hand, her whiteboard with the other and made her way to the floor bathroom.

Within Willow found her friend seated on a toilet, her head in her hands. Willow knelt down and gave Buffy a tissue, who took it and wiped her face, giving the witch time to write.

Tell me.

Buffy hesitated, then wrote. Remember your spell? Your will be done?

The guilty look on Willow's face showed that she did.

Buffy wrote again. Action=Consequence

Willow's face twisted into the worried look her friends usually associated with end-of-the-world type news. Consequence?

A trembling hand dropped a tiny piece of card one the board. A stick, really. A pink stick. Willow's eyes widened as her brain added up the clues into one undeniable fact: the Slayer was pregnant.

Spike's?

Buffy's nod was the only reply.

When will you tell him?

No response.

Are you going to tell him?

Buffy looked away, face undecipherable. Willows eyes widened in alarm as she thought of a more important question.

You aren't going to....?

Willow saw why her friend had been crying - torn between duty and maternal instinct, love and hate, fear and revulsion.

I don't know.


	4. A Reason to Live

Title: A Mother's Wrath 

Author: Tycho 

Contact: tychocelchu@optusnet.com.au 

Series: BtVS 

Chapter: Three - A Reason to Live. 

Rating: PG-13 

Code: - B/S 

Summary: An AU of the Glory Saga. The Monks create someone closer than a sister. 

Timeframe: Takes place during "Doomed" 

Archive: You betcha. Just lemme know. 

Disclaimer: Whedon owns all. 3 Doors Down own the song. 

* * * * 

Xander's small stereo blasted through the basement, accentuated by the occasional thump through the ceiling from a demanding parent. Spike ignored it, water dripping down his arms as he worked a wrench around the pipes above his head. 

The bare bulb that hung from the rafters shone harsh light on the white hair of the bare chested vampire, balancing precariously on the single chair in the room? Cellar? 

Cell. 

*Stupid* 

Twist 

*Bloody* 

Twist 

*GIT!* 

Spike twisted the wrench harder than necessary and overbalanced, falling from his perch. 

William the Bloody, former scourge of the human race and killer of two slayers, lay flat on his back on the damp floor; oblivious to the heavy wrench that wanged off his skull. He had com to a suddenly inescapable conclusion. *My unlife sucks. And not in a good way. Gods, I've even started thinking in teen-speak. Big Bad? HA! Big Nothing! A puppy is more fearsome than I am!* 

Spike let the music wash over him. 

You're getting closer, to pushing me  
Off of life's little edge  
Cause I'm a loser and sooner or later  
You know I'll be dead  
You're getting closer, you're holding the  
Rope and I'm taking the fall  
Cause I'm a loser, I'm a loser, yeah 

Spike murmured, "How bloody appropriate." 

He let his head roll to the side, allowing him an unobstructed view of the floor under the whelp's bed. 

A stake lay there. A stake that was looking very attractive right now, despite the fact it was lying on a shirt that was even more hideous than the one he'd been forced to wear earlier. Spike's smirk was full of irony.*Look's like I'll get to do the world one last favor before I go.* 

He rolled over and pulled both items out from their hiding place. A few minutes later he was once again standing on the chair, ready to hurl himself onto the stake, which he'd firmly attached to the ratty table. 

"See you in hell, Dru." 

Unfortunately, fate had other plans for the suicidal vampire. Willow and Xander chose that moment to enter the room. 

Somehow he missed. *Christ! I can't even kill myself. How bloody pathetic.*  
  
  


Willow was looking at him in shock, "What are you doing?"  
  
  


Spike picked himself up. "Bloody rot. Can't a person knock?"  
  
She repeated herself, "What were you doing?"  
  
Xander decided to fill her in. "You were trying to stake yourself!"  
  
"Fag off! - It's no concern of yours."  
  
"Is, too. For one thing that's my shirt you're about to dust. For another, we've shared a lot here." Xander grinned evilly. "You should have trusted me enough to do it for you."  
  
Willow gave her best friend a look that threatened to slap him upside the head." Xander!"  
  
"What? He wants to die, I want to help."  
  
"It's ooky. We know him, we can't just let him poof himself!"  
  
Spike interrupted her, "Oh, but you can. You know I'd drain you drier than the Sahara if I had half a chance. And besides, I'm beyond pathetic. Stuck in this basement washing skivvies for a blighter I wouldn't have bothered to bite a few months ago."  
  
Xander felt suddenly insulted. "Hey!"  
  
"I mean, am I even remotely scary anymore? Tell me the truth."  
  
Willow just looks at him and he jumps at her, curling his hands into claws. She smiled and patted his cheek. "If you were jumping out of a dark alley, I'd be terrified." Spike looked doubtful. "Honest. But before you really decide to do this there is one thing you should know."  
  
"And what's that, ducks?"  
  
She moved closer to him and began whispering in his ear. Xander strained to hear what was being said, but to no avail. The expressions on the vampire's face were entertaining though. Everything from anger thru shock and even outright glee was shown there. It was like a bad soapie compressed into three minutes. Eventually, Willow moved away.  
  
The conversation that followed was almost frightening.  
  
"You're telling me..."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"And that I'm...."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"And no-one else knows?"  
  
"I wasn't even supposed to tell you. If you're no longer planning to be in a dustpan tomorrow, we'll talk about it then. But in the meantime, we've an apocalypse to avert. Wanna help?"  
  
"You really know how to cheer a bloke up, don't you?" Spike was grinning like the cat that ate the canary. Willow smiled back.  
  
Xander trembled in fear. A happy Spike could never be a good thing.  
  



	5. The Most Important Thing I

Title: A Mother's Wrath 

Author: Tycho 

Contact: tychocelchu@optusnet.com.au 

Series: BtVS 

Chapter: Four- The Most Important Thing 

Rating: PG-13 

Code: - B/S 

Summary: An AU of the Glory Saga. The Monks create someone closer than a sister. 

Timeframe: Takes place during "Doomed" 

Archive: You betcha. Just lemme know. 

Disclaimer: Whedon owns all. 

* * * * 

Joyce frowned as she tried to decide if answering the door had been a good idea. On the front step stood a person who had entered her home only twice. The first time had left her confused, angry and heartbroken, although it had been no fault of his own. 

The second time, a little over a year ago, she had offered him cocoa and a figurative shoulder to cry on. Then he'd been 'escorted' from the premises. Apparently he was evil. 

And now he was here again, with a concerned look on his face and the echo of bewilderment in his crystal blue eyes. 

"Hello, Spike." 

------------------- 

Riley sat on the bed, trying to shoot hoops with mixed success. His life had gone from reasonably simple/lightly complicated to, well, chaos with some extra complications thrown in just for fun.  
  


-Knock-Knock  
  
---------------- 

A smile ghosted the vampire's lips. "'Allo Joyce. Could.....could I come in? Need to talk to you 'bout somethin'." Spike saw the Slayer's mother hesitate. "If I was going to hurt you, I wouldn't need to ask. The Slayer never uninvited me. 'Sides. Can't 'urt 'umans anymore." 

Joyce's curiosity was piqued, and for some reason she'd always felt that she could trust him. "Come in, Spike." She stepped to allow him through. As he passed she asked, "Does Buffy know you're in town?" 

"Heh. Yeah. You could say that." 

------------------ 

"Come in."  
A blonde head appeared through the gap between the door and the jam. Buffy slowly walked in. "You never called. So I didn't know..." 

  
At least Riley hadn't hit her with the ball. "Oh, hey - I'm sorry. I'm just - I'm a dead man. - Secret. Highly. - Or it's supposed to be. And - and then you find out. I can deal. You're special. But last night with your friends was a disaster. I mean, could I've been _less_ convincing? I was _trained_ to be sneaky and stuff, and I'm like - Hi! Paintball - just passing by! I should have just given them my security code and rank!"  
Buffy: "You have a security code and rank?" 

---------------- 

The scene in the living room of 1630 Revello Drive mirrored the one of two years ago almost exactly. Except Joyce wasn't holding a tumbler filled with scotch, and her daughter wasn't in the kitchen. 

Finally Spike ended the awkward silence. "How much has Buff told you about me? My bloodline?" 

"Not much. I know that you're Angel's Childe? Is that the right term?" 

"That's it. Dear old Dad. But he's not the founder of our line. That right belongs to a particularly vicious bastard called Aurelius. That's our bloodline. Our family name, if you will." 

"Sounds a bit like the Bible really, from Aurelius came the Master." 

"I've heard Buffy talk of him. I, He's dead isn't he? I mean dust?" 

"And 'is bones ground to dust. The Slayer did that 'erself." Spike frowned, this next part might difficult for Joyce to accept. "But not before 'e killed her." 

Joyce gasped. "I, I had no idea. I mean I knew that she'd.... She didn't tell me." 

"Same as she keeps a lot to herself. 'S the way she is. Jus' wants to protect you I s'pose." Spike patted her knee in reassurance. "But Xander revived her, bringing about that whole second Slayer bit." 

Joyce seemed to relax some at those words. "Remind me to thank Xander next time I see him." 

"Sure, pet. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Bible. Aurelius sired the Master, who sired Darla, who sired Angelus, who sired Drusilla, who sired me." Spike stopped there, as Joyce seemed to be remembering something. 

"I know that name. Darla. Oh, yes. The girl who was here that time I was hurt." Joyce's eyes widened in fear as she realized what her injury had actually been. "She fed from me! She's not, not still?" 

"Among the walking dead? No. Peaches dusted 'er that night." 

"Oh, thank goodness." 

"Never did like 'er. The point of all this is, well, you know how with human families, children will make the same mistakes their parents did? Son of a wife beater an' all that?" 

Joyce nodded. 

"Well, vamps are no different. We tend to follow patterns. I took the trouble once to look back over the family tree once. Aurelius had been cast out by his family for becoming Christian, so 'e killed 'em all. Right down to the last second cousin." 

"The Master fed on 'is family at the behest of 'is sire, and Darla? Well, she was the black sheep of the family. 'Er profession you understand. Really frowned upon among the colonists, if you get my meanin'." 

"Angelus was no different. Disowned by 'is father, so 'e terrorizes the 'ole village. Then kills everyone who 'ad ever meant anythin' to 'im." 

Joyce was horrified, and she showed it in her face and the tone of her voice. "I knew he'd done some horrible things but, his family? That's, ....." Joyce couldn't find the necessary word. She shook her head as if to clear it of the horrors she'd just heard. "Why are you telling me all this?" 

"So you can understand something. Please, just let me finish. I know it's hard to hear, and the next bit is the worst, but please, hear me out." 

Spike looked down at his shoes, as if he were ashamed, something that Joyce did not attribute to being a normal feeling for the undead. What she was hearing from him was shocking, and eye-opening. Both Giles and Buffy had told her that vampires were evil, but until now she hadn't truly realized just what that meant. Now she did. Family was the sole thing in Joyce's life really worth anything. To hear that Spike's .... ancestors, for lack of a better term, had destroyed that, was.... 

Joyce's head snapped up from contemplating her twisting hands and she stared at the platinum blonde vampire sitting across from her. *Please don't tell me he....* It was too horrible a thought to finish. That someone she had liked since their first, well second, meeting could ..... do that, was ..... 

Entirely possible. 

Spike began to speak again. "Angelus gave rise to over half a dozen Childer, all of who carried on the 'tradition' with glee. Hell, one even made a career out of it. Stupid twit." He looked up at Joyce. "Then there was Dru. She didn't kill her family. Angelus did it for 'er. Whether she would have if given the choice will never be known. I'd like to think not." 

Once again Spike looked at his shoes. "That's where I came into the picture. First few years, Dru was my everything. Sire, lover, hunt-partner, teacher. Wasn't 'til I heard about the Slayers that I asked Angelus to teach me everything 'e knew. 'E'd seen me destroy the lives o' those I hated in life, and assumed that I'd done my family in the same way." 

He looked Joyce directly in the eye. "He was wrong." 

------------------- 

The camp was in chaos. Outside the dark caravan, Drusilla was having the time of her life terrorizing gypsies, at least one caravan was one fire and the horses were probably in the next valley by now. Darla was nearby shrieking and demanding something from the clan's leader. Spike didn't really care what. He was far more interested in the contents of the caravan. 

He could hear five of them. Three were children, probably little things with those big dark innocent gypsy eyes. Dru liked eyes, and Spike grinned in anticipation of the reward he would get for his gift. There was also a young woman, virgin by the smell of her, and an older woman with grey at her temples. 

The old woman puzzled him. She wasn't afraid. He reached for the pack of matches he kept in his coat and lit the nearby lamp. By the soft light of the oil soaked wick, he could finally see the occupants of the caravan clearly. He'd been right. Two young boys and a little girl. A doe eyed girl who couldn't be older than sixteen. And the older woman, about sixty years old, but the woman she'd been twenty years ago could still be seen, and Spike took a step backward in shock. 

"Hello, William." 

Spike blinked in surprise and let his face slip back into its human features. "Mum?" 

----------------- 

  
"No. Did I just say..?" Riley sank down on the end of his bed and sighed. "This is so not good. Everybody knows about me. I'm finished. It's the end of the world."  
  


Buffy walked up to him and said with a smile, "No, it's not." She leant down and kissed him. 


	6. The Most Important Thing II

"I wish I could say that it's good to see you, William." The woman stood up slowly and put the girl child on the bed with her two siblings. The eldest remained standing in the corner, clutching at the cross she held. The woman approached the creature of the night and looked him up and down, the way only a mother can. 

Said vampire appeared to be trying to collect his wits, which had been scattered by the appearance of someone he'd thought back in merry old England. Spike squinted as if that would make her vanish or her appearance change. "Mum? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in London! Not gallivanting around with gypsies." 

The raven haired teen looked in confusion from the woman she'd come to call Mother to the monster who'd violated their home. Neither were acting as they should, as they had begun. 

The vampire had kicked open the door and sauntered in taunting them. As expected. 

Mother had been waiting with crosses and Holy Water. As expected. 

Then they had begun to talk, and now.... 

They were HUGGING? Definitely not expected. Although the vampire had restored his human guise and was looking embarrassed as she fussed over him in the same way she fussed over all the clan's children. 

Suddenly the demon had freed himself from her and was over by the open window, frowning. He turned back. "He won't do it will he? Reverse the curse?" 

Mother shook her head, "No. He can't. And the woman who cast it died as a result of the casting." She stood taller, with pride, "And I won't." 

To Ravenna's surprise the vampire smiled. Suddenly he appeared boyish and charming. "Good. Wouldn't want to see a Smythe surrender to threats." The smile disappeared as he became serious again. 

Deadly serious. "I can save you, Mum. Th' whole bleeding caravan. But I need to make it look real, know what I mean?" 

She didn't hesitate. "If it will save the children, do what you must." 

------------------- 

Buffy broke off the kiss and looked at Riley, studying his face. It was open, and honest and completely in line with everything that Angel had left her for. She could easily see him painting that picket fence, or mowing the lawn, or romping with blonde little girls in the sunshine. It was at that moment Buffy realized that she had no reason to continue agonizing over her decision. 

It was already made. There would be no visit to the clinic. No guilty secrets to hide from her mother and friends. Buffy knew her time on this world was limited, but if wanting this child was selfish then so be it. 

Of course, now there was a new question. One that could only be answered by the man in front of her. 

------------------- 

"In that wagon is your family. Your wife and daughters will die tonight without my protection." Darla stroked the gypsy's cheek, "But if you'll do as I say, your family can live."  
  


Spike swung around the corner of the caravan in full game face, blood dripping from his fangs and lips. He summoned a tidy belch and let it roll out his throat. Darla looked at him in disgust and snapped the human's neck. She believed he was an imbecile, and Spike liked it that way. He gave her his best confused look, "What?", and leaped to the ground. He grabbed Dru and began dancing with her as she babbled about music and mercy. 

Darla was furious, her yellow eyes reflected the firelight as if they were the flames of hell. "Show none." 

Inside the caravan, Ravenna watched as the two vampires cavorted and played amidst the death and fire that had once been their camp, their home. She forced herself to look at her father's corpse lying in the grass, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Their vengeance had brought this destruction down upon them, further vengeance would serve no purpose, and would possibly wipe their family from the face of the earth. 

Ravenna turned away and looked within to what was left. Her little brothers so bravely trying not to cry. Her sister, the youngest of them all with crying as only small girls can cowering between both of them. And the woman they all called mother, whether she was or not, blood from the wound on her neck staining the neckline of her dress. No. The next time she saw the one called William, she would thank him. 

And then drive a stake through his dead heart. 

Soon the vampires left, and they were left at peace. For weeks the children would fear the setting of the sun and nightmares troubled them constantly. Ravenna had nightmares too, but more of the What If? variety. What if the curse had never been cast? What if there had been no need? 

What if William had been like his sire? 

And at every dusk, she would see a small smile on her mother's face as she spoke of her son. 

------------------- 

Joyce let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Spike had not sat still during his tale, finding himself unable to be calm during this confession, and now his nervous twitching, fidgeting and occasional pacing had increased. The pacing that he was once again making her dizzy with. Somehow Joyce didn't think the worst was over. 

She forced a small comforting smile, "I always thought that they broke the mould with you, Spike. You've proved that, and I'm happy for you. But why tell me?" 

Spike took an unneeded breath. "So that you could understand that family is the most important thing in the world to me. And because we are now family." 

Joyce raised an eyebrow in bemusement. "We are?" 

"Willow did a spell. Coupl'a weeks back." 

Joyce rolled her eyes, "Oh." 

Spike paused and gave her a sympathizing look. "One little spell, yeah. Turned Harris into a demon magnet, made the watcher go blind, and for a time I was a Slayer, but still with all me parts in place." 

The Slayer's mother tried not to smirk. "Well thank goodness for that. But what about Buffy? Was she hurt?" 

Spike blinked rapidly as he tried to remember, then ducked his head. Had he been human, crimson would have suffused his cheeks. "Uh, no. Just the opposite actually. See.....Cause of the spell you see, we, uh Buffy and I, ...." 

"Wethoughtwewereengagedallmakingplansan'ally'knowanwekindasnuckoutand...." 

Years of experience with Willowbabble had given Joyce the valuable ability to understand one breath speeches. "And?" 

"You're going to be a Grandmum." 

------------------- 

Buffy gave Riley her _dead serious_ look. It was kind of like her _going to stake you now_ look but with lack of stake. "For this to work, there's something I have to ask you." 

He grinned like a foolish boy, ignoring her look. "As long its not classified, you can ask me anything." 

"Could you raise a child that wasn't yours?" 

Buffy watched as the emotions flashed across the face of the soldier in front of her. Idly she wondered if he knew just how easy he was to read. There was confusion first, of course followed by realization of why she would ask _that question. _

And there it was - disgust, revulsion, the look of a man who has been asked to accept another's leavings. 

She had her answer. After all, first impressions last. No second thoughts would sway her, she refused to let any child of hers be put in the inevitable position of being unwanted by the sole parent. "I guess not." 

Buffy left. 


	7. I Want a Family

Title: A Mother's Wrath 

Author: Tycho 

Contact: tychocelchu@optusnet.com.au 

Series: BtVS 

Chapter: Five - I Want A Family 

Rating: PG-13 

Code: - B/S 

Summary: An AU of the Glory Saga. The Monks create someone closer than a sister. 

Timeframe: Takes place just after "Doomed" 

Archive: You betcha. Just lemme know. 

Disclaimer: Whedon owns all. 

Spike had fully expected Joyce to be angry. Its emotion that a guy expects when telling a woman he's just knocked her daughter up. He expected frowns, shouts, laying blame; perhaps some tears as that blame reached herself. 

But instead an icy rage seemed to take hold of her, and a sharp pain erupted in his left cheek as Joyce slapped him hard. "How dare you. How dare you come into my house spouting these hurtful lies. I never really believed Buffy's insistence that you were evil. But this?! Is this how you get your kicks now? Playing with peoples' minds? Giving them hope for the impossible so you can watch their dreams get shattered? Get out!" She pointed towards the door. 

Spike shook his head trying to clear the shock from the slap and wrap his mind around what Joyce was telling him. "Joyce? Wha? I'm not lyin'...." 

"Don't say it Spike. Giles told me all about Slayers." Tears began to well up in her eyes, eager to stream down her cheeks. "They fight, they die. And they _can't have children!" _

Spike sank back into the armchair as he began to comprehend what Joyce was telling him. This was why Joyce was so upset. After her experiences with Angelus, a taunt on this subject must be the most horrible thing imaginable to her. He sat forward and captured her eyes with his, trying to convey whatever scrap of honesty he could find. "Joyce, I promise you. I'm not lyin'. I don't know how or why it happened, but Buffy _is pregnant. Maybe it had somethin' to do with my brief stint as a Slayer, or somethin' else entirely. Hellmouth an' all. I don't know. That's more the Watcher's department. If you want proof, talk to Willow. She'll tell you." _

Joyce scoffed angrily at this. "You're trying to tell me you convinced Willow of this nonsense?" 

"Other way 'round pet. I was in the middle of a lovely suicide attempt when Red gave me somethin' t'live for. But that's not going to do any of us any good if Buffy decides to pay a visit to one of those clinics you yanks are so fond of." Spike's temper was starting to get the better of him, especially when he thought of the Slayer doing exactly that. He tried to calm himself as Joyce began to deny that her precious daughter would never do such a thing, the tremor in her voice telling Spike she was desperately trying to convince herself of that fact. 

He put everything he had into his closing argument, his pleading blue eyes revealing his desperation. "I don't care if she hates me and wants nothing more to do with me. I've dedicated my life to death and mayhem, and suddenly I've been given this chance to create somethin' worthwhile. Please Joyce. Help me. Convince Buffy to keep the baby." 


End file.
